There has been some discussion lately about litigation currently pending action in the District of Orvanne courts, where the Arataka Research Consortium seeks injunctive relief on the matter of the Federal Intelligence Office’s failure to comply with the Hope for All Act, legislation resoundingly passed under the auspices of the Kyonoke Inquest, at the request of the Gallente Federation and Minmatar Republic.

While legal has advised me to keep ARC’s public statements brief on this point, let me state this: it is our belief that FIO has materially failed to comply with laws passed at the request of and under the advisement of the federal administration.

As the leader of Ikusaro and The HEDWAY NETWORK, I pledge that we are behind the Hope For All Act and support ARC in seeing action take place regarding this matter. The Hope For All Act has to finally come to fruition as promised in its passing. Not only must the FIO do more to enforce this decision but I challenge the Gallente Federation and Minmatar Republic to rise up and help lead the charge. We at The HEDWAY NETWORK not only pledge our support, but we also offer to those seeking refuge as a consequence of these events our stations as a place of sanctuary.

For all the past research and exploration work you have contributed to, both indirectly and directly to the benefit of Amarr, we offer our legal counsel pro bono in service of Arataka Research Consortium.

We hope you are able to accept the offer.

We had some questions after reviewing the paperwork:

The plaintiff, “Arataka Research Consortium” is referred to as “a corporate alliance registered under the Yulai Conventions and approved to do business within the Federation.”

As far as our research indicates, ARC is not a formal financial or corporate entity in Federation’s business ledger. Instead ARC is an entity external to Gallente Federation.

This makes it challenging to justify information access from an Intelligence organization which has a primary obligation of protecting its own native empire.

Question for you: Vital Secrets Act, as far as we can tell was not nullified. This Act grants empires, including the Federation and by extension FIO, secrecy over their own investigations. Has any court ruled on how VSA is impacted by Hope For All Act?

The language of Hope For All Act (passed on April 8, YC 119) does not specify availability of information gathered on May 15, YC 119 or beyond. “Immediate Release” being in the language does not necessarily compel the release of information collected in the future (i.e.: post April 8, YC 119).

Thank you, Ms. Goldfinch, for your interest! I’ll direct my legal team to contact you. Of course, I am also sure the court would benefit from an amicus brief, if you have time and interest in preparing one.

As to your comments and concerns, in series:

You are correct that a Capsuleer alliance is, by law, an extranational entity. At the same time, it was provided for as a legal entity by the Yulai Accords, and is subject to laws and regulations as administered by CONCORD and local governments. While extranational, it is our position that Capsuleer alliances, when injured, may take appropriate legal recourse to resolve that injury. The venue, we believe, is appropriate. If the court deems that the Arataka Research Consortium does not have standing to bring this suit, then we will simply have to identify an organization that would have standing to do so.

It is, of course, FIO’s prerogative to release or not release such information as they please. However, FIO is also subject to the laws and judicial system of the Federation, and it is our belief that FIO’s failure to comply with the Hope For All Act constitutes a breach of law. While FIO wields considerable influence, I certainly hope it does not compose the entirety of the Federation’s legal apparatus, nor supersede it.

The VSA Act explicitly covered sovereignty on matters of containment, which is to say matters of maintaining quarantine and resolving pockets of infection. The brief report from the Scope did not clarify on that point. To our understanding, this would put certain matters beyond the scope of the HFA Act, but would not provide carte blanche on matters of investigation or research. There has been no ruling on the interaction between these two acts, however, and this is a matter to be resolved at the pleasure of the court.

You are correct that the precis for the HFA Act is quite brief. Given the short timeline we were operating under, we weren’t able to have ARC counsel fully explore the terms of the act, and it may be that it concerns only information gathered to that point. However, it is worth noting that the Federal Intelligence Office has made no release of information, whether bounded by or not bounded by that period.

It is the view of the Arataka Research Consortium that the Hope For All Act was tabled to satisfy the concerns of the body politic as to the nature of the Kyonoke crisis, and to assure the body politic of the adequate handling of the crisis by cluster governments.

My hope is that the Federation and Republic did not intend this to be an empty gesture, and that they ensure that their intelligence and research organizations comply with the act.

Speaking as an outside observer despite my commitment to the Consortium, I would like to point out that it is likely in the interests of the FIO to release their findings if for no other reason than tempering public approval. The FIO would do well to avoid the obvious scrutiny and suspicions cast as a result of an investigation in the origins of a plague that distinctly resided in Caldari sovereignty.

As we all know, Mentas Blaque and the FIO are no strangers to tensions between the Federation and the State. It seems prudent that a certain level of wariness arises from their involvement and subsequent failure to release findings, though I’d extend that such findings may not even exist. On the surface, it seems well outside the realm of disbelief that the FIO saw an opportunity to involve themselves in an advantageous position over the State in an effort to collect information using the Inquest and subsequent plague investigation as a shell to pursue their own military and/or political interests.

But, I am a man who is not without a culpability for being wrong. Perhaps the FIO did find something of interest and simply failed to supply it for public observation. However, it seems increasingly unlikely. Regardless, the longer they withhold their findings, the more I can understand a certain level of… Caution.

I am also sure the court would benefit from an amicus brief, if you have time and interest in preparing one.

We shall have one prepared for review within a day. We will send the document via private electronic mail to you.

No doubt one of the members of ARC may have standing in the Federation, which would be the path of least resistance to claim sufficient harm. Your statement about FIO is correct. We were simply exploring possible avenues a FIO counselor may pursue.

Regarding points 2 and 3 we thank you for your response and understand your assessments.

Is violating the Hope For All Act even an indictable offense? Otherwise how are you going to subpoena any relevant documents without any prosecution?

There’s also a reason the FIO is part of the Executive Branch. Attempts to probe the activities of the FIO can usually be met with accusations of Legislative or Judicial overreach and denied by the President.

If an FOI request is made then that usually applies to declassified material. The FIO can just say any requested material is still classified.

No, I’m saying introducing an act stating: We’re going to share all information related to this incident (but not really) by the Senate, in the hopes others will divulge intelligence and show their hand while not showing their own seems about par for the course.

If there’s no indictable offense in the legislation for violating it then there’s no chance for prosecution because no criminal charge can be laid. If so, then there would have to be consideration of what statutory implement has been violated by the FIO in not divulging what information it has, or if one is going to judicial route, what potential case might be used to subpoena FIO officials or documents related to the Kynoke Inquest in a vicarious fashion.

I suppose a Senate oversight or investigatory panel could be convened under the pretext of budgetary constraints (We’ll only release Federal funds to the FIO if they release documents related to the Hope For All Act in the interests of compliance). Then again, that depends on representatives in the Senate desiring to form such a committee. It’s not the first time the Senate has turned a blind eye to the activities of the FIO in the interests of national security.

Oh right, there’s also the special trick the FIO could use if it was part of the bill. If the designated agency to oversee any violations of the Hope For All Act is the FIO itself then it could use the old, “We’ve opened an investigation to see if any violations occurred and found that we have done nothing wrong and have no information available,” loophole.

Curious that so many immortal men and women are humbled by the mere mention of the FIO. Strange, even, that the Blaque’s brigade of specialists in plausible deniability seem to have much more of a grip on Capsuleers than even the likes of Concord.

Perhaps there is more benefit to the FIO’s existence than I previously believed.

Fortunately, we already have statements confirming that the Federation has two investigations underway. The FIO investigation has stated support from both the DED and Society of Conscious Thought, and the Senate Oversight Committee is also supported by a DED investigatory team.

Then in my opinion, a criminal negligence case would probably have a successful chance of subpoena on relevant documents and officials.

Nomistrav:

Curious that so many immortal men and women are humbled by the mere mention of the FIO. Strange, even, that the Blaque’s brigade of specialists in plausible deniability seem to have much more of a grip on Capsuleers than even the likes of Concord.

Perhaps there is more benefit to the FIO’s existence than I previously believed.

Roll enough of them into a ditch like sardines and the glamour tends to fade along with the lime before you toss an incendiary in.